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Big U.S. Steel story remains unconfirmed
Here is what the Duluth News-Tribune is reporting about that credible rumor I heard the other day regarding U.S. Steel’s operations on the Iron Range. Mum’s the word on high-level meetings at Minntac MineLee Bloomquist, Duluth News Tribune Several top-level U.S. Steel executives made a rare visit to Minntac Mine in Mountain Iron this week…
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Good news?
I’m hearing credible rumors of something potentially big and ostensibly good happening at U.S. Steel’s taconite plants in northern Minnesota (they own Keewatin Taconite and MinnTac near Virginia). I’ll let you know when I can confirm. Related posts: No related posts.
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Freaking beobabs everywhere!
Who remembers “The Little Prince?” In this French children’s book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a pilot meets an alien who looks like a little kid. This “Little Prince” lives on a tiny planet where all he does is pull up the baobab trees so they don’t take root and choke his world. C’est une métaphore!…
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Rukavina’s flag law takes effect
The legislative delegation of the Iron Range is known for great successes and monumental failures over the course of state history. They are also known for quirky stands on random issues. Rangers put their full pressure behind legalizing low-grade fireworks a few years ago. They made a Quixotic stand against the smoking ban last year,…
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Behold 2008’s great bounty
Stop! What’s that sound? That gentle ringing … or it buzzing? Why, it can only be one thing. The future! The rest will have to wait; it’s time to answer the call. Behold, my 2008 predictions for the Iron Range and to a lesser extent … THE WORLD! POLITICSThe political world is shocked to its…
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Big Brother is NOT watching Buhl
An update: The people of Buhl have spoken. The city is now backing off plans to install surveillance cameras on the streets of this small Iron Range town. Now the midnight riots may continue unabated. The feds are still listening to our phone calls, but at least public urination laws remain difficult to enforce. Related…
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How to win the Iron Range
This is the second long post in a series about the political climate on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. I cross post these kinds of things with www.mnblue.com and my own www.minnesotabrown.blogspot.com. Last week I talked about how Range politics centers on personal relationships. The region blends social conservatism with economic liberalism to create a unique…
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Miners’ health study carries hefty price tag
Yesterday, lawmakers learned that it will cost $5.5 million to do a study about the effects of the taconite mining process on miners’ health. For years, anecdotal evidence and incomplete reports have suggested a link between working in the mining industry and a rare form of cancer. The question now becomes, do people in power…
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Big Brother is Watching Buhl
Ah, Buhl. When will we ever learn to understand your ways? This is an AP synopsis of a story from the Mesabi Daily News: Iron Range town mulls surveillance cameras placed around townThe Associated Press – Sunday, December 16, 2007 BUHL, Minn. — Law enforcement officials in the Iron Range town of Buhl want to…
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The Range: Where "poli sci" is some kind of ethnic dish and potica is political
This is the first part of a series of cross-posts about Iron Range political culture for MNBlue.com and the MinnesotaBrown blog. The first thing you have to know about the Iron Range is that you need to cast aside the conventional wisdom on “rural vs. urban” political trends. The Range is often considered to be…
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Tiffany Johnson Memorial Fund
Most folks have already heard the tragic story of the former Chisholm woman killed in Colorado, but I just got this notice in the mail today. Visit www.Tiffanyjohnsonmemorialfund.com for more information. The Tiffany Johnson Memorial Fund has been established as a tribute to Tiffany A. Johnson, who lost her life as the result of a…
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Hail, Hail, the Iron Range
The following is my first post at www.mnblue.com, a political blog for which I began contributing this week. Have you heard the latest about CD03? Just kidding. “Psych!” as the cool kids used to say. CD03 is another planet to me. I’m aware of it, and thanks to my 1,239 metropolitan blogging friends I know…
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Union labor to build iron nugget plant
One of the big questions I hear about the many new projects coming to fruition on the Iron Range is whether our history of labor/management conflicts would survive all the change. So far, so good. Local unions to build iron nugget plantLee Bloomquist, Duluth News Tribune – 12/12/2007 A project labor agreement that guarantees the…
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The Kentucky / Iron Range comparison
As some of you know, I am one of several people who claim the title “Former Editor of the Hibbing Daily Tribune.” (There are more of us than there are licensed pilots in many large western states). It’s a tough job but an important one. The Tribune just hired a new editor after publisher Wanda…
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Range ‘Boom’ talk continues to intesify
The Duluth News-Tribune has another story of note today, one that asks the question “Is the Iron Range ready for all the change that will come if some of these major economic development projects come to fruition?” The full story is available here. Exciting times, for sure. My only qualm is that it seems officials…